How crucial are 'bite times'?

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Muppet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Jan 2019 at 9:05pm
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Titanium
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Kayak lad I saw today got some nice snapper in the Rangi channel trolling Dr Evil lures most were 40cm one was 55cmish. In one of those flash pedal 5K pedal kayaks.  
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Lowbox Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 5:29am
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Not sure about bite times. Tide helps, but I fish on the drift so current helps you cover the ground. Movement helps - at slack tide you just have to work the lures more. Drift from wind also helps, even at slack tide. Change of light helps, dawn after a dark night I reckon fish are hungry as they can't see so well to eat on a dark night. (this is true for deer so maybe true for fish?)

However, some times there is a hot bite when your lures can't get to the bottom. But that hasn't coincided with any bite time calendar I've found yet.

So my preferred time to fish is early morning, preferably when the tide has started to run from slack tide just before dawn. With bugger all wind. And no full moon.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote brmbrm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 7:29am
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Rarely look at bite times and usually only after I have been.  When/whether i go depends on
1) Work/domestic commitments
2) Weather

then when i can get choosy

3) weekdays
4) early morning
5) timed so the wind and the drift are good

But mostly (1) and (2)
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Snappa Geoff Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 8:03am
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Bite times, Moon phases, calendars, Maori theories etc i find alot of people use them as excuses if a bad day on the water is had. If one puts more time into studying your area where the fish might congregate more to feed and when in the tide they are more likely to be there  after a while you can work out there pattern. its not rocket science that if you live by a large river entering the sea that fish will gather closer in to feed as it provides food. Tiny fish, whitebait, crabs etc are eaten by kahawai and other species then in turn the Snaps wont be fare behind cleaning up the scraps.Another example is how Craig A.K. Kitno fishes. He lives miles up Tauranga Harbour. Walks the mudflats at low tide to see where the snaps are feeding by there marks left in mud. Doesn't bother targeting them in the light of the day as its only a couple of metres deep. Instead hits them at night with amazing success.Beer
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Steps Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 9:01am
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Titanium
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 Plenty of people I know and respect put a lot of faith in to bite times etc so I believe there probably is something in it.
 I know a few who do also.. but they doing get out much.. not because of bite time but because opportunity.. and IGF they did go by bite time only they would get out maybe 1 or 2 times a yr.
 So on that basis , matching their "faith" to actual number times get out just doesn't add up once put under scrutiny as the conservation progress.

  my bite time app, on my phone and tab (gps) is next to my tide app.. hence to quickly glance when checking out a weather window is quick easy.. and easy , out of curiosity, check when the fishing suddenly dies..

Bite times, Moon phases, calendars, Maori theories etc i find alot of people use them as excuses if a bad day on the water is had

Yep that comes up a lot also "had a bad day..calander bite time excuse.. how did you do?"
 "OH Got a good feed, 8 or 9 32/ to 42cm snaps a gurnard and couple KY... as we ALWAYS do"
 And we do that by
If one puts more time into studying your area where the fish might congregate more to feed and when in the tide they are more likely to be there  after a while you can work out there pattern. its not rocket science 

This is something I dont understand about maori calendar and bite time.
 upto around mid 60s one simply dropped a line off the rocks wharf what ever , basically any time of the year  or day and catch good fish.. very good, very often todays PB/ trophy fish. Thu did have an issue when the tide went out and only mud under the wharf..Big smile
 There was no need or incentive to ever investigate a maori or bite time calendar.
From memory there never was a calendar till Bill Hopepa started to publish his in the Auckland Star (??) back in the mid 60s (??)
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Sufishent Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 9:14am
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Like many above have said, there are many factors that influence my fishing times and bite time does not come into the equation for me.As I only fish lures and am always on the drift the major factors for me are

1) weather - particularly the wind direction and speed
2) tide time - so the wind and tide direction are aligned
3) early morning - best part of the day and usually flat calm
You can never have enough fishing tackle
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote The Tamure Kid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 2:52pm
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Titanium
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Ditto. Having some current,  and the direction of the current (incoming or outgoing), is usually something I focus on when soft baiting - particularly trying to avoid wind v tide. 

Which - to come back full circle to my question - was why I was surprised that low tide was smack in the middle of the predicted 'excellent' major bite time a few days ago.I've never really looked at the bite times calculator before. Am landlocked at the moment, so was looking all through the forum site.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote pjc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 4:14pm
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Titanium
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My best day ever was full sunlight,spring low tide,no current 80ft of water off the eastern point of kawau island,7lb smallest biggest 14lb bite was some 5hrs ealier,moon still up full in the west,october 1992 been back several times simular conditions and caught snapper.

been out as per bite times and caught nil,luck of the draw!
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (1) Likes(1)   Quote fish-feeder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jan 2019 at 5:11pm
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Anything eats when its hungry,bite times aren't something I follow. If a burger gets in front of me,its bite time on. Best catches I've had are in bright sun too,40kg of wet fish on one set with my sea donkey.
dont get my personality mixed up with my attitude,my personality is me,my attitude depends on you.
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote JPNZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jan 2020 at 9:54pm
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Hi all,

I see this chat closed a year ago but am wondering if anyone out there has found a decent fishing journal app for the phone? I've tried a few different options now but none of them do what i'm after. 
Most of them just want you to take a photo of one good fish and record that as your journal entry. What i'm after is something similar to the good old fishing diary a lot of us use; our favorite spots with different days logged against it so you can look back and see what was firing when, what the weather was doing, what baits worked, etc.

Has anybody seen anything like this?


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